Church in California

In El Segundo there weren't enough members for a ward, just a branch, but that is where I gained my testimony.  There were many different churches in our town and I wanted to tell them, our church was the true church.  One teacher treated me as her pet but when she learned I was Mormon, she ignored me.

Most of the members were related and from Idaho.  There was a special closeness as families struggled economically.  The depression was terrible at that time.

We didn't have a church house to meet in, our meetings were held in the American Legion Hall.  A public dance was held there, every Saturday night.  Sunday morning, Uncle Joe would get my Dad and they would go early, sweep up the ciagarets and beer cans and set chairs up for church. The building smelled of smoke but our meetings were spiritual.  We held Primary and M.I.A on Tuesday.  All of our parties and programs were held in that bluilding.
When I was 8, Uncle Joe took me and another girl to the Hollywood Stake Center, where another man baptized me and Uncle Joe confirmed me..  I don't remember why my mother didn't go,  but I felt all alone.
40 years later I saw the building again.   After his mission Tom took us to Calif. to meet the people he had converted.  I recognized the building immediatley.